Germany’s justice minister says the best outcome for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden would be a deal with U.S. authorities to return home.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with news agency dpa published Tuesday that Snowden “surely doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life being hunted … or wandering from one asylum to the next.” Maas argues that a deal to return would serve Snowden best.

Opposition parties have demanded Germany allow Snowden to come to Berlin to testify to a parliamentary inquiry into the extent of U.S. surveillance. The government rejected the idea despite tensions over alleged spying, saying it would hurt relations.

Asked whether Snowden might still come, Maas says he doesn’t “really see it at the moment.”